who brought Buddhism to the Himalayan region and a term for Bodhisattva, an altruistic being who seeks enlightenment for the whole world. The Loden logo symbolized giving knowledge and wisdom. It is a Himalayan book in the rectangular poti format. The book on open hand symbolizes the gift of knowledge, which, the Buddha said, is the best gift. The Loden motto is ཆོས་བདག་མེད་ཀུན་ལ་ཐོབ་ཐང་ཡོད། (chos bdag med kun la thob thang yod), a Buddhist proverb that knowledge/truth is without an owner and everyone is entitled to it. Core programme areas The Loden Foundation runs three main programmes: Loden Entrepreneurship Programme The Loden Foundation is one of the pioneers in promoting entrepreneurship in Bhutan. Aimed at benefitting Bhutanese youth, the foundation runs entrepreneurship training programmes, provides interest-free and collateral-free capital funds up to $30,000 to start businesses and provides support through its mentorship programme, monitoring scheme and resource centre. The programme was launched in 2008 in order to help promote entrepreneurship in Bhutan through the inspiration and support from Loden's longstanding friends Gerard Tardy and Anne Tardy. As thousands of young people leave schools, colleges and other educational institutes, unemployment started to grow. Civil service which was the main employer in the past is now saturated and private sector is still growing. The programme aims to help self-starters or startups in business. It also aims to help develop a responsible and sustainable entrepreneurial culture in Bhutan, inspired by the visionary and altruistic Bodhisattva ideals. As of December 2019, the foundation has trained over 5,000 aspiring and entrepreneurs, provided interest-free capital seed money to 175 (60 led by women entrepreneurs) entrepreneurial ventures which are spread across 18 districts in Bhutan and created more than 715 jobs in the market. As part of the entrepreneurship programme, Loden also launched a special programme called 'Student Empowerment through Entrepreneurship Development' (SEED) in 14 university colleges and Technical Training Institutions (TTIs). This extended programme aims to stimulate the young minds of students at a time in their lives when they are full of imagination and open to new possibilities. It is expected to contribute towards extra curricular development of the students and inculcate entrepreneurial skills through exploring business opportunities, innovative thinking, confidence building and improvement of self-esteem and social awareness. Loden Child Sponsorship Programme The Loden Foundation started with this programme but many NGOs and semi-governmental organisations in the last five years have taken over the sponsorship